The Life Coach: Part One
- Hamlin
- Aug 9
- 14 min read
Nikki's laptop fan shrieked in protest as she hunched over the battered desk in her dorm, hands caged around a cracked coffee mug. It was nearly midnight and the hum of campus life seeped through the cinderblock walls—a fugue of drunk laughter, some EDM-bleeding party two doors down, the thumping tread of boots up and down the corridor. Nikki sat alone, legs pretzeled under her, too aware of her own outline in the monitor's glow. The only color in her room came from a half-mast flag of a K-pop boy band, corners curling, and a relic from Target: a motivational poster that simply read, "Be You." The edges were browning and the tape had given up weeks ago, so it flapped and drooped in the draft from the perpetually broken window.
